Allen West Rumored to Be District-Shopping; Lois Frankel Says He May Be "Afraid"

The Miami Herald heard a strange thing come out of Rep. Allen West's camp yesterday -- just a few days after the state Senate released its proposed map of congressional seats, someone told the paper that West was "strongly considering" running in a different district next year.

That would be Republican Rep. Tom Rooney's district next door, which would set up a primary battle between the two.

West beat incumbent Rep. Ron Klein by about nine points in 2010, and he's been raising big bucks for 2012 -- a good deal more than the Democratic hopefuls, former West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel and CPA Patrick Murphy.

West might know something the rest of us don't about how his congressional district will look when the Legislature's done with it, but it still sounds pretty lame.

That's where Frankel comes in, saying West might be "afraid" of running against her.

"After dedicating my adult life to serving the people of West Palm Beach, I am excited to have the opportunity to go to Washington and fight for the people of the 22nd Congressional District," she says. "It looks like Mr. West is afraid of a real fight, which is what he will get when he faces me in a general election. Mr. West: Don't cut and run... stay and fight. I am not retreating to anywhere. I am staying right here."

Of course, this is just the latest in the Democrats' war on West.

The punches from Murphy have been persistent, and Frankel's been keeping up too.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is in the mix too, having recently started sending out the ever-loved robocalls around West's district, naming him atop a pretty generic anti-Republican statement you can read here.

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